NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST VILLAGE

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST VILLAGE; Like the U.S.S.R., a Longtime Ukrainian Diner Is Defunct

By DENNY LEE

Published: October 29, 2000

Correction Appended

Kiev, a Ukrainian coffee shop frequented by morning churchgoers and late-night bar hoppers alike for 22 years, served its final bowl of borscht last weekend.

The corner diner, at Seventh Street and Second Avenue, was an East Village institution known as much for its crusty waitresses as its generous helpings of sauerkraut and challah. Open 24 hours a day seven days a week, it was closed without warning by Monday, leaving patrons bewildered.

The proprietor, Michael Hrynenko, who owns the building and other real estate in the area, did not return several calls. But friends and former associates say that Mr. Hrynenko lost interest in Kiev as he turned his attention to his real estate holdings and, in turn, lost patrons.

After managing the restaurant closely for many years, ''He got bored with it,'' said Andrew Lastowecky, a board member of the Ukrainian National Home, a community center nearby. ''It's more of a business thing.''

For some, the closing reflected the area's changing character, from an Eastern European enclave in the 1950's to a punk hangout in the 1980's to gentrification today.

''There's still a few of us left, but not anything like what I remember,'' said Tom Birchard, the owner of Veselka, a Ukrainian diner at Ninth Street and Second Avenue where Mr. Hrynenko once worked as a cashier. ''Things changed. I don't want to use the word yuppie.''

Mr. Birchard said Mr. Hrynenko recently approached him about taking over the diner and he declined, although he did hire a few waitresses.

Patrons spoke nostalgically about the diner.

''It was a tradition for us to go there for breakfast after Mass,'' said Irene D'Alessio, who attends St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, across the street from Kiev. ''There's no place to go now on Sundays.'' DENNY LEE

Photo: The Kiev, a longtime East Village institution. (Frances Roberts for The New York Times)

Correction: November 5, 2000, Sunday An article in the Neighborhood Report pages last Sunday about the closing of Kiev, a Ukrainian coffee shop in the East Village, misstated the relative locations of the shop and St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church. The coffee shop was on the same block of East Seventh Street, not across the street from the church.